Gluten Free with Shellfish Allergies in SE Asia

December 14, 2018

Recently we received this letter from a customer. What an interesting story.

"SelectWisely was a tremendous help to me on our trip to Southeast Asia.

I have celiac disease, which means gluten and gluten contamination cause me to be very sick.

I also have an anaphylactic shellfish allergy. I knew that traveling to this area was going to be a challenge. All of the countries we were to visit use fish sauce or ground shellfish in their food prep or in their seasonings. For this reason, the regional consulates and the travel clinic told me to create translation cards by using Google Translate. I created cards in Chinese and Vietnamese. When I brought them to my local Chinese restaurant and to my Vietnamese manicurist to verify what they said, they explained that they did not convey that I needed to avoid shellfish, wheat, soy sauce or gluten. At this point I was getting a bit panicky about going on the trip.

I was so very grateful to find SelectWisely on the internet. They worked with me to get the perfect multi-lingual explanation of my 2 issues established and proceeded to print the explanation cards I needed in 5 languages. In addition, they made me emergency cards to carry, explaining that I need medical care and a doctor who spoke English.

I received 2 credit card sized, sturdy sets of each card. I then printed multiple copies of these cards on paper and cut them into strips. That way I always had the original cards with me and could allow restaurant staff to take the copies to show people in the kitchen.

The first day of our Tauck tour our trip leader asked me about my eating issues. When I showed her the cards, she was thrilled to have such a succinct way to explain my issues. She immediately faxed them off to every hotel and restaurant at which we would be eating. We were in 10 different cities over 21 days. When I walked into the dining areas, most of the managers already had a plan in place for me. Some places had gluten free options ready, some had my food prep done in separate areas and others tried their best. All of them thanked me for having the explanations available and asked what company I had used for the cards. They wished that others with food allergies would do the same.

I HIGHLY recommend this company to anyone planning to travel to countries where language and food or allergy issues might be of concern. The cards truly made all the difference for the trip being a positive experience for me."